Underlying
by Woofemus
Summary: Sabrina can't quite figure out what's bothering her, but it might have something to do with the plants in her home. Sequel to Unraveling.


Sabrina always wakes up at the same time everyday, no matter what time she sleeps: when the time the sun rises. It's a habit from the days when she traveled around Kanto, before becoming a gym leader. Now that she has an actual bed though, she's free to spend some mornings waiting in bed idly, having the fortune of being able to stare at the ceiling and tossing around instead of getting out. It's quite unlike when she was out in the wild and had to wake up early to worry about what to do for breakfast.

The routine changes slightly though. There's a nagging feeling that's been bothering her quite recently, like an underlying itch she can't quite get rid of. It's uncharacteristic of her because she was always the type of person who could pinpoint exactly what was wrong with herself. For this reason, she stays in bed longer to ruminate on it, a hand on her forehead. All it does in the end is serve to make her frustrated when she finally sits up, rubbing her forehead.

She rises from bed and goes through her morning routine. When she steps into her small living room though, she pauses briefly at the doorway, surveying the room with a critical eye. The feeling she had before seems to intensify as she stares into this room.

It finally hits her, as she looks over the whole room and the area next to her balcony. _Especially_ the area next to her balcony, where the curtains are drawn back to let the light in. Stepping carefully as to not knock anything over, she looks at her balcony, wondering how she could miss such an obvious thing.

"... did I always have so many plants?"

* * *

However, the nagging, persistent feeling had existed long before Sabrina discovered the sudden greenhouse her home became.

"Good morning!"

Sabrina pauses for just a moment as she walks into her gym before turning her head. Two of her trainers are at the entrance, greeting her with small smiles on their faces. She nods, both a greeting and dismissal, leaving them to their duties.

She goes around, checking the usual maintenance of the gym, making sure the teleporters are working and sending challengers to their right positions. Honestly, she wonders why she still even keeps these around when nearly everyone in the gym has some power of teleportation and the only people who'd get stuck in here would be challengers or visitors. They could actually have doors in the walls and make up some other puzzle instead. However, they were here when the gym was first built though, and Sabrina feels like however troublesome they are, she'd have a lot of opposition if she removed them, practical or not. So they stay.

After she's done making her rounds with the gym, she checks in with her trainers. While they also battle the challengers that come, first and foremost, they are here to better hone their psychic powers. They smile at her when she comes in, with some even waving. Just like she did before, she pauses again, looking over them.

She's never quite seen them so... open before. Whenever she came around, their tones always became hushed, as if they were trying not to displease her. Before, whenever she made eye contact with any of them, most of them quickly looked away, finding her stare to be heavy. Sabrina isn't oblivious to the discomfort she causes people, not helped by her red eyes, and doubly so because of her powers.

Even to her trainers, they become wary and tense, as if awaiting orders even if all Sabrina gives them are instructions for their training. Sabrina isn't going to lead them into battle, as amusing as that image would look, but with the way they act, it certainly feels that way.

Perhaps they act like this because she's the gym leader? She doesn't think she's strict, but it is proper to defer to her since she is technically their superior (even in psychic prowess, not that she likes to admit it) but it's... offsetting sometimes. It's normal to see it from strangers, but to be treated as such from people she sees everyday...

Sabrina had been so lost in thought that she didn't even realize she was already back in her main room, with a challenger in front of her, tapping his foot impatiently as he waits for her to recognize him. How distracted was she that she couldn't even sense someone in the same room as her? The trainer's tapping gets louder until she finally swings her gaze to him, honing her eyes on him. He shrinks back at her look though, and fumbles to take out his badge case. Chastising herself for allowing distraction to easily get to her, she meets her challenger, appropriate pokeball in hand.

For the next several hours, the gym is in a constant motion of battle, with challengers coming in right after another. Sabrina tries not to rub her forehead and groan, however much she wants to. There seemed to be much more challengers nowadays, no thanks to the now rapidly circulating stories of the two trainers from Pallet Town who both swept through the Indigo League.

A ring startles her out of her thoughts, and she takes a moment to realize it's her pokegear ringing. How many distractions had it been today? Sabrina personally prided herself on her self-discipline, but from today, it seemed she was losing all grasp of that. However much she berates herself though, her pokegear hasn't stopped ringing so she quickly picks it up before the last ring.

"Sabrina here."

"Sabrina!" Erika's voice greets her cheerfully from the other end. "Hiya! How are you?"

"Erika." Sabrina greets. "Good, I suppose."

"You suppose?" Sabrina only hums, hoping it's enough to placate her friend. It does, although she can tell Erika isn't fully convinced. "Alright then..."

"Was there a reason you called?"

"Is wanting to talk to you a reason?" Erika asks instead. Sabrina blinks, thinking to herself.

"I... suppose not."

"Oh, I'm not bothering you am I?"

"You aren't." Already, Sabrina feels light, the irritation and anxiousness that's been plaguing her at the back of her mind, from the moment she began to speak to Erika. The stream of battles throughout the day makes her yawn though. "I had many challengers today though, so I am feeling a little weary."

"Oh, you too?" Erika sighs, the sound harsh and signaling to Sabrina her frustration. "They just wouldn't stop! I had no time for napping in between!" Sabrina tries not to laugh, but she doesn't conceal it completely because Erika groans. "I need my naps to get through the day!"

Sabrina's lips curl upward. "I know." If there was something Sabrina had learned about Erika, it was that she _really_ needed her naps. As kind as Erika could be, or look for that matter, even that dropped when her sleep was compromised.

"I need to unwind. Mind if I talk to you for a bit?" For some reason, Erika's voice sounds strange to her, as if she sounds unsure, but with only her voice, Sabrina can't quite use her powers to tell what the other girl is thinking. Not that she would anyway, not with Erika, not anymore. "Sabrina?" Erika's worried tone makes her realize she hasn't answered yet.

"I don't mind." she finally says.

* * *

Sabrina watches the challenger leave, grinning at her shiny new badge in her hands. After the trainer disappears, warping away on the teleporter, Sabrina sighs tiredly, rubbing her forehead. The Mirror Coat was something she should have clearly predicted, but... Sabrina sighs again, this time with frustration.

It isn't losing that really bothers her. After all, she's supposed to be a hurdle for aspiring trainers to overcome. What really bothers her is how distracted she's become, a sign she's losing her self-discipline and needs more training. But why? The more she thinks she's exacting in on the problem, the more wrong she feels and the harder it becomes to focus clearly.

_"Master Sabrina, Lady Erika is here."_

She jumps when the voice enters her head, blinking rapidly as she's brought out of her thoughts.

_"Oh? Is there a reason for her visit?"_ There's a few moments of silence before she receives any answer.

_"She said she'd like to see you."_ Sabrina narrows her eyes. Even if it was telepathic, she could clearly read the... teasing and mischievousness of that message. Her trainers were doing that lately.

_"I'll be out."_ She responds with a sigh, teleporting herself to the entrance. Erika looks up from where she was chatting with one of her trainers, smiling widely. Sabrina gives them a nod. For some reason, Erika's smile becomes thin, as if amused at something. The trainer glances at the both of them before she excuses herself, giggling as she goes past Sabrina into the teleporter. She raises an eyebrow at that but puts it out of her mind for now.

"Hey!" Erika waves as Sabrina quickly walks over to her.

"Erika." Sabrina frowns at her. "Is it fine for you to be out right now?"

Erika laughs, waving a hand. "Of course not! I'm skipping!" Sabrina hums in disapproval. The other leader only grins at her response, waving a hand. "I'm kidding. A nasty bug's been going around my gym so I closed the gym for a few days so the sick ones can recover."

"Ah." Sabrina nods, but gives Erika a worried look. "You're okay?"

"Of course! I wouldn't be here otherwise. If I was sick, I wouldn't want to give it to you." Erika says, amused. Sabrina just nods slowly.

"Just... checking."

Erika looks at her strangely, frowning at her for just a moment before she claps her hands together, her smile back.

"I was chatting with one of your trainers just now, and she told me about this new cafe that just opened up. She said they had good tea. Wanna go?"

Not that Sabrina has much of a choice to agree or disagree, because Erika's already whirling around, humming to herself as she strolls off, presumably in the direction of the cafe. She shakes her head exasperatedly, sending out a message to everyone that she'll be out for a break before following after the other leader. She had learned that Erika was as good as sold as soon as tea was mentioned.

Soon, Sabrina finds herself seated at a table with Erika sitting across from her, ordering their tea. The waitress takes their menus, smiling at Erika but when she looks at Sabrina, she flinches slightly and scurries off. Normally, Sabrina is used to that, but for some reason, it weighs heavily on her mind today, feeling even more displeased. Strangely, Erika is quiet, and Sabrina is too preoccupied to notice, dwelling in her own mind.

The waitress comes back, setting down their tea before hurriedly excusing herself, sensing the tense atmosphere between the two.

Erika picks up the cup gingerly, wafting the aroma toward her. She smiles, a good sign, before she takes a sip. "Oh! The tea _is_ good!" She exclaims joyfully, much more exuberant than before. Sabrina glances down at her own cup before she follows Erika.

"... hm." It's strong and earthy, no surprise as to why Erika instantly liked it. Erika takes a few more sips before she finally sets her cup down, satisfied.

"So, is there something bothering you?" Sabrina blinks in surprise, slowly bringing her eyes to Erika's knowing face.

"You can tell?"

Erika giggles at her look. "Of course I'd notice something off about you. After all..." and Erika stops speaking, letting the silence hang. Sabrina only blinks at her, quiet. Erika lets out something that's both a heavy sigh and exhale as she leans on her arms, smiling that secretive smile she's been doing much more lately. "You seem... quiet and preoccupied, even more so than usual. I'm here to lend an ear if you'd like."

Sabrina opens her mouth to respond in the negative before she realizes, _ah, Erika is also a gym leader. There's one thing she can help with._ How did that detail escape her? She must have been more distracted than she originally thought, by both her gym and Erika's recent behaviors.

"Erika," she begins, frowning a bit as she ponders what to say, "how... do the trainers in your gym treat you?"

"My trainers?" Erika clearly didn't expect to be asked that, by the way both of her eyes go up in surprise and how she reflexively lowers her gaze, not quite looking at Sabrina at first.

"Yes." Sabrina says, mostly to show that she is serious, not that she isn't normally. Erika hums, idly swirling her tea with the spoon.

"They're nice." Erika finally says. "We take care of the flowers in the gym together." She titters behind her hand. "Sometimes, they come to me for advice about _all_ sorts of things you wouldn't believe."

"... ah."

"For the most part, we all have a very cordial relationship. Is... there something wrong with your gym?" Erika asks in a worried tone.

"Hm..." Sabrina wouldn't quite say there's something wrong, but just... a change. She describes as such to Erika.

And Erika only smiles in that way she's been doing lately, chuckling to herself. "I can't speak for everyone obviously, but maybe... they're able to see you as a person now?"

"A person?" Sabrina narrows her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Even without your powers, not that they take away from it, you're a very intimidating person. You're not very approachable, if I must be honest. I'm sure most of our colleagues would agree," Erika glances at her with a small smirk, "but that's because they simply don't know you. However, you're still a fellow gym leader. But to your trainers you're... technically..." Erika pauses, tapping her chin. "I wouldn't say they treat you like a boss, but you're... clearly higher on the hierarchy than them, so maybe they feel nervous around you?"

"That... seems plausible." Sabrina nods thoughtfully. "But why the sudden change recently then?"

"Sabrina..." She doesn't expect Erika to give her a serious look. "I fear I've ruined your image."

"... what." Sabrina's flat tone breaks Erika's visage, who is now grinning widely. "Image?"

"Yep!" Erika glances around the cafe briefly before she speaks in a quieter tone. "You're the sort of person that people are naturally scared of. It's your face and your general personality. You should have considered poker as a career," Erika laughs at that before she continues, "I'm not saying that you're emotionless though, because you're most certainly not!" Her voice rises slightly and she clears her throat to regain control before speaking again.

"You just seem... apathetic to people. Even I still have trouble discerning some of your emotions, although I'm definitely much better than before!" She grins, obviously proud of herself. "It's just a matter of knowing you superficially. For your trainers, you don't really talk to them much outside of pokemon and training do you?"

"I don't." Sabrina admits, feeling disappointment for some reason. Erika looks at her knowingly.

"And there we go. They have this image of you that you're a super serious person who won't stand for any nonsense, until something happens that makes them think otherwise. Something happened that probably made them all reconsider their opinions of you."

"Hm..." Sabrina nods. "Something that happened recently though?" She leans back in her chair. There isn't really anything that comes to mind... unless...

Sabrina inhales sharply when she realizes _yes, something did happen recently._ And with that memory – she turns to look at Erika and blinks again, surprised.

Erika rests her head atop of her hand, staring at Sabrina with a smile that's half covered by her hand, clearly amused. Her eyes are heavy with something Sabrina can't quite identify, only that it makes her flush with how intense her stare is. Sabrina has caught Erika staring at her so, but the other leader quickly changes expression or looks away. This is the first time Erika doesn't flinch away from her when she's caught.

"... hm." Sabrina is the first one to drop her gaze, taking a large gulp of her tea to hide her red face as Erika smiles faintly.

* * *

Sabrina stands in her living room, frowning to herself as she looks around. Alakazam blinks owlishly at her, wondering what she's doing. She looks around again, continuing to frown. "Alakazam, when you invite someone over, the room is supposed to be clean, yes?"

Alakazam turns to her with a critical eye. "Do you think this room looks clean?" He only snorts at her before he shrugs, as if to say _silly human_ before he walks off. Sabrina sighs, wondering why she even bothered to ask him in the first place.

It... looks clean enough, she guesses. There isn't any visible dust she can see, and Alakazam is tidy enough. But the thought that there's just _something_ off makes her apprehensive The longer she stands here though, the less time she'd have to prepare dinner. Hoping that it wouldn't be a big problem if it was one, she goes into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

It's about an hour later that she hears the knock on her door. Luckily, the only thing Sabrina needs to finish is to let the pot stew for several minutes so she sets the fire lower before making her way to the door.

"Hiya!" Erika greets cheerfully as she always does, smiling widely.

"Erika." Sabrina moves out of the way to let her in.

"Thank you for having me." Erika murmurs as she takes off her shoes and neatly puts them to the side. Sabrina nods.

"I apologize, dinner wasn't ready by the time you came." Sabrina feels bad about that. It was supposed to be courtesy that she got it done before her guest came over right? But Erika shakes her head.

"No, I understand. Don't worry about it." Erika inhales loudly and releases it with a grin. "I can smell what you're making." Her smile turns knowing. "Is it the curry recipe I gave you last time?"

"It is."

Erika claps her hands together with a small squeal. "Oh! I'm excited!"

"... hm?"

"Of course!" Erika says, picking up Sabrina's confused hum. "Even if it's the same food, having it made by someone else is different, don't you think?"

"I... guess?" Sabrina doesn't quite understand that, and Erika pouts at her.

"I suppose I'll have to make some for you in return then," but she laughs suddenly, "is what I'd like to say, but trust me, I'm a horrible cook though. I take forever making dishes that it's more of a hassle for me to cook sometimes."

"Oh?" Sabrina looks at her thoughtfully. "I wouldn't have thought so."

"Appearances are very deceiving." Erika shakes her head ruefully. "I know how to grow my vegetables and fruit, but asking me to cook them is a different story."

"... ah." Sabrina pauses right before they enter her living room and Erika nearly runs into her. "I'm sorry if my living room is dirty." She apologizes suddenly, tense. Erika only chuckles before she steps into the living room. She lets out a loud gasp, and Sabrina thinks maybe she should have spent more time cleaning.

"Sabrina, how can your living room be dirty if there's almost _nothing_ in here?"

"... really?" Sabrina furrows her eyebrows, looking around the room for what had to be the fifth time that day.

There's a sofa, with a coffee table in front of it. A shelf sits in the corner of the room with her books. Alakazam had claimed another corner of the room as his own, so that was left untouched. There was a balcony window, along with the balcony, that holds nothing except for an umbrella that she's forgotten to take in but other than that, Sabrina doesn't really have much use for it. She thinks it already seems like a lot, but she has a small apartment, preferring the coziness of it and it isn't as if she'd have much things to fill if she had a bigger apartment anyway.

"Sabrina," Erika turns to her with a look of disbelief, "how long have you been living here?"

"A few years." Sabrina answers automatically, before realizing maybe it was better to have lied, by the way Erika narrows her eyes at her.

"A few years!" Erika repeats incredulously. "And it looks like barely anyone lives here! There's almost nothing decorating this place! Unless... are you planning on moving from here anytime soon?" Sabrina shakes her head in the negative. Erika looks around again before she finally turns to Sabrina with a determined nod. "Alright. You need some color in this room. You don't mind plants do you?"

Sabrina steps back, feeling slight dread creep in on her as she watches Erika map out her whole living room. Even Alakazam shakes his head at her, or maybe the both of them.

… at least the problem with her home wasn't that it wasn't clean.

* * *

"Master Sabrina, good morn – ing?"

Sabrina stands at the entrance of her gym, staring at her trainers who alternate between looking at her and... she follows their gaze down to the rather conspicuous item in her hands before meeting their expectant looks.

"... good morning." Sabrina answers before continuing into the gym.

"Is that a plant?" One of them finally blurts out for all of them before she can get into the teleporter.

"... yes." She's about to continue walking again before she notices they aren't satisfied with her answer. "Erika gave it to me." A second passes before they all nod their head knowingly. She tries not to sigh when all of them exchange knowing glances at each other, failing to hide their smiles. She politely waits for them to give her their attention again before speaking, glancing downward. "Is... there a good place to put this?"

* * *

In the end, Sabrina's routine is changed but her days continue as they usually do.

Her trainers smile freely at her when she enters and even if she gives them the same nod as she always does, her lips quirk upward for just a brief moment.

Alakazam seems to have grown smugger, for whatever reason unknown to her.

Erika comes over to visit, usually when they don't have to run their gyms, although she's slowed down in bringing plants. When even she nearly trips over one of the pots when in Sabrina's home, Erika admits that maybe she went overboard _just a tiny bit_. "To be honest, I didn't think you would actually let me bring so much. I wanted to see when you objected." Erika had said later, both amused and guilty.

Sabrina doesn't need to worry about her gym, and it does feel nice that her trainers no longer shy away from her. Even she had to admit that there were certain awkward periods, but at least they were opening up to her now. ("No silly, _you're_ opening up to them!" Erika laughs.)

Except that distracted feeling doesn't ever seem to disappear actually. In fact, now that she's solved one problem, it becomes insistent, like a terrible itch she can't scratch, demanding her attention.

But right now, Sabrina just wants to relax, reclining against the couch. A TV that Erika brought over now sits on a newly bought stand, next to a plant. The TV's on a channel that has a reporter interviewing trainers on the road, not that either of them are paying attention to it. Erika dozes against her shoulder, snoring lightly, with her hands near Sabrina's but not quite touching.

Sabrina takes this moment to look down at Erika, studying her.

Even now, after knowing her, or especially after knowing her, Erika is a strange girl.

Certainly, people would find it trying to be able to talk to Sabrina. She knows she is a poor conversationalist and makes no visible attempt to get better. What use is small talk and gossip to someone who can read minds?

Sabrina did not think her words were harsh, but she could see how she had come across, especially to someone who was as demure as Erika. It certainly surprised her when Erika remained persistent but dropped all pretenses, glaring at her when Sabrina goaded her by speaking lightly of flowers. She appreciated that frankness Erika treated her with afterward.

Even now, after spending so much time with Erika, Sabrina can't say she quite understands flower arrangement, but she can see that it's something dear to Erika, with the way her face lights up when she finishes a work or how she can sit for hours, staring at a group of flowers, trying to decide how to properly move them. She spends hours and even days in her garden that were it not for her trainers and even Sabrina herself at times, Erika would forget her duties as a gym leader.

Erika is a strange girl, but Sabrina can admire the deep passion she has for her art.

The thought makes her blink rapidly, a realization coming to her that Sabrina unknowingly utters the other woman's name.

"Erika."

"Hm?" Erika stirs, blinking groggily.

Sabrina doesn't answer right away, trailing her gaze over her room. Various plants and some of Erika's arrangements are scattered across the room, the vivid and bright colors of the flowers contrasting with the drab walls of her home. One of Erika's scrolls hangs on the wall with foreign characters, and Sabrina needs to remember to ask Erika to teach her how to read them, or ask for their meaning. Alakazam and Erika's Oddish slumber together in the corner of the room in a small bed that both Sabrina and Erika went to buy. A small table that stands low to the ground has one of Erika's half finished works sitting on it. She turns her gaze back down to Erika.

Tentatively, Sabrina pulls her arm free. Erika begins to blink rapidly, first in confusion and then surprise when Sabrina wraps her arms around her, pulling the smaller girl closer and resting her head on top of Erika's head.

"Sabrina?"

"I..." Sabrina closes her mouth, frowning. She feels anything she says will be an unsatisfying string of words that won't even properly convey how she feels. Despite how muddled and uncertain her mind's been for the past several weeks, it's amazingly blank right now.

_"Erika."_ She whispers instead, dropping her hand down to the other girl's, holding it gently but unsure.

Sabrina didn't realize she was holding her breath until she feels Erika curling their fingers together. She exhales slowly, feeling the tension drain out of her as well. For the first time in a while, there are no agitated or antsy thoughts circling around, just a feeling of... contentment. She smiles, chuckling to herself as she pulls Erika closer.

Erika just laughs softly and leans against her again, falling asleep.


End file.
